Premier Fund Managers Ltd Has $50.40 Million Holdings in Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC)

Premier Fund Managers Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Wintrust Financial Co. (NASDAQ:WTFC) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 404,829 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 4,653 shares during the quarter. Wintrust Financial comprises 1.8% of Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Wintrust Financial were worth $50,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $94,906,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Wintrust Financial by 14.1% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,153,999 shares of the bank’s stock worth $559,364,000 after purchasing an additional 637,072 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Wintrust Financial by 261.4% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 698,628 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $87,126,000 after purchasing an additional 505,293 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wintrust Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,562,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Wintrust Financial by 36.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 802,841 shares of the bank’s stock worth $87,132,000 after buying an additional 213,559 shares during the last quarter. 93.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wintrust Financial Price Performance

Wintrust Financial stock opened at $113.86 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $123.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.16. Wintrust Financial Co. has a one year low of $91.38 and a one year high of $142.04.

Wintrust Financial (NASDAQ:WTFC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The bank reported $2.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.11. Wintrust Financial had a return on equity of 12.60% and a net margin of 17.52%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Wintrust Financial Co. will post 10.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wintrust Financial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. This is a boost from Wintrust Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 6th. Wintrust Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.40%.

Insider Transactions at Wintrust Financial

In related news, COO David A. Dykstra sold 4,213 shares of Wintrust Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.31, for a total value of $553,209.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 206,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,088,465.14. The trade was a 2.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jeffrey D. Hahnfeld sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.95, for a total transaction of $54,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 2,276 shares in the company, valued at approximately $298,042.20. This represents a 15.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,178 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,315. Corporate insiders own 1.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WTFC shares. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $150.00 target price (up from $135.00) on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $152.00 price objective on shares of Wintrust Financial in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Wintrust Financial from $151.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Wintrust Financial to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.69.

About Wintrust Financial

Wintrust Financial Corporation operates as a financial holding company. It operates in three segments: Community Banking, Specialty Finance, and Wealth Management. The Community Banking segment offers non-interest bearing deposits, non-brokered interest-bearing transaction accounts, and savings and domestic time deposits; home equity, consumer, and real estate loans; safe deposit facilities; and automatic teller machine (ATM), online and mobile banking, and other services.